Continuing with my personal experiences with Star Trek, I wanted to let everyone know why I enjoyed Star Trek: Voyager, a series that many find horrible in every way.Exploration
For me, a good Star Trek show has to explore, and push the envelope, and that is what Star Trek: Voyager did. I will admit, that they didn't have the best written episodes, but they did explore, and travel, which made me feel like I was unlocking new areas of the Star Trek universe.
The Ship
I loved that Voyager wasn't the best that the Federation had to offer. It was a good ship, but unlike the Enterprise-D, it wasn't the flag ship. It had some techological advancements, and some interesting additions. It was more maneuverable than previous ships we have seen, especially for its size. It also was able to land, something that the saucer section of the Galaxy class ship, didn't do too well.
While the design of Voyager wasn't all that revolutionary, it was different than what we had seen before, and there was a nice evolutionary feel to it. I am obsessed with seeing science fiction continue to press forward, and Voyager was another step in that direction. My friend Nick says I only like flashy technology and special effects, and in part he is right.
Delta Flyer
One of the biggest mistakes in Star Trek for me was not having a fighter type vessel. Deep Space Nine had their Runabouts, but they were more like small ships than figheters, but the Delta Flyer was the fighter I had been waiting for. It was small, highly maneouverable, tough, and versatile. It was a very fun idea, and allowed us to get away from the almost bulky, Voyager.
Cheesy
In all honesty, every series has had its cheesy moments, and while Star Trek: Voyager might have had more of them than others, it is what made the show light, fun and familiar.
I think the audience has forgotten the long legacy of comedy and silliness in their Star Trek as they have gotten older. I, for one, enjoy the fact that the show still gets a giggle or two from me.
Enemies
I both enjoyed, and didn't enjoy the enemies put into play in Star Trek: Voyager, but I can tell you that out of all the shows, Voyager got beat up the worst.
Yes, I know the Defiant got blown up, but that's not where the show primarily took place. The Delta Flyer also was destroyed at one point. Yes, the Federation was pushed from Deep Space Nine, but it wasn't ravaged in the ways that Voyager was.
I loved 8472, and their technology. I enjoyed the interactions with the Kazon, Borg, and others. It gave the show a wide array of enemies to face, much like we saw back in both Star Trek: The Original Series and Star Trek: The Next Generation.
Conclusion
I really think that Star Trek: Voyager was a good progression of the Star Trek universe, and held to many of the ideals put forth in previous incarnations.
I do agree that they were a little light on plot, and a little high on the cheese factor sometimes, but all in all, it was a great series, with an especially powerful conclusion.
If you haven't liked Star Trek: Voyager before, go back and watch Star Trek: The Next Generation, and let me know if you could still like it today. Maybe it isn't Star Trek that has changed, but instead, your expectations from it.
PENIX says on December 3, 2007
I didn't watch Voyager until Seven of Nine came aboard. From then on it became one of my favorite shows. I don't really know what what the show was about, but I enjoyed it quite regularly.
mburke6 says on December 3, 2007
The Next Generation wasn't very good until Riker grew a beard. Voyager wasn't good until Kess shorted out. I never got into Deep Space Nine at all, and Enterprise stunk.
It took a few seasons for those shows to develop their characters and for the writing to improve. I think I like the last few seasons of Voyager better than any of the Next Generation's seasons. I'm Tivo'ing them lately, and have watched them all the way through again. I think I liked them for exactly the reasons you say. The Enemy's were the best, and it seemed like there was more action than in any of the other series.
Watching them again, I don't know how I was able to sit through the first three years the first time. They sure seem pretty awful now, but they improved the show dramatically later on. It's a pity the Voyager series didn't last a few more seasons. They killed it off as it was hitting it's stride.
I stuck with Enterprise for all those years hoping that this series would come together at some point too. It never did. Count Bakula was just too, I don't know, "nice" maybe? I stopped watching it at some point, and then I heard it was canceled.
I wonder if there will be another series at some point...
davidcubed (7) says on December 3, 2007:
PENIX - ;) mburke6 - Finally a kindred spirit. :) Thanks for commenting. I agree with you on all counts. And if there is another series... I shudder to think, but I bet it will be more like Enterprise. :(
thec says on December 3, 2007
... and reading Jim Wright's "Delta Blues" summaries and reviews were a great part of it as well.
USS Defiant says on December 3, 2007
Voyager rules...nut there is a lot of inconsistnces...like they have lost over 20 shutlle pads and the ship is capable of carying 5 or 6 .....
replicate them... says on December 4, 2007
true they blew up a lot more shuttlecraft than voyager started with. But no reason they couldn't just replicate the parts for and assemble replacements... sure it'd take a lot of energy but it's certainly within the realm of possibility.
Easy fix- lose a shuttle and you're stuck with Neelix food for a month or two...
mclaren says on December 4, 2007
Great post. In many ways Voyager is my favorite Trek series too. It had non-stop exploration...it had the best enemies, the Borg...and Voyager had something the other Trek series (mostly) didn't have: a lot of spectacular epsiodes. In particular, 2-parters. "Year of Hell" was a mind-blowing spectacular 2-parter, Voyagers return to earth in 1996 was eye-popping and tons 'o fun, and "Unimatrix Zero" was great. In many ways, these 2-part episodes outdid all but 2 of the Trek movies! (Star Trek IV and Star Trek: First Contact.)
Voyager also had some of the best-written episodes in any of the Trek series -- including the original. Jetrel (S1) was a knockout, with a colossal emotional whallop. Learning Curve (S1) took us into a place Trek had never gone before, into the misfits and the outcasts, and it was a deeply humane episode of the kind rarely seen in other Trek series except for The Lower Decks (Trek Next Gen). The 37s (S2) and Initiations (S2) were oustanding, and for sheer plot complexity and spectacle, it's hard to outdo Maneuvers (S2). Warlord (S3) remains one of the best written episodes of any Trek, with a fabulous villain who's so sympathetic he really isn't a villain. Distant Origin (S3) was world-class in every possible way, one of the best episodes of any of the Trek series. Year Of Hell and Future's End and Dark Frontier and Unimatrix Zero just blew me away. I would pay current ticket prices to see any of those 2-parters as a movie in a theater today. For sheer fun, it's hard to beat Brice Of Chaotica! (S5) WArhead (S5) accomplished the miracle of making us empathize with an ultimately tragic sentient WMD, what a great script that was. Blink Of An Eye (S6) has to be one of the most mind-boggling Trek episodes ever created, with a wonderfully optimistic ending. And there are tons more great episodes I've forgotten, from Cathexis to Heroes and Demons to Dreadnought to Remember (one of the best episodes of the entire series!) to Fair Trade to Drone (one of the most memorable characters in any Trek episode, with a deeply affecting final exchange between 7 of 9 and the drone) and Displaced (a great little Asimovian mystery) to In The Flesh (a great Namoni Wildman episode) and Alice (a great mix of horror and psychological obsession with science fiction)...and the list goes on. And on.
Best of all, the 2-part finale for Voyager was by far the best of all the Trek series. Classic on all counts.
Goks the Macedonian says on December 4, 2007
Nice to see Voyager fans out there :) In my opinion Voyager was great because they were stuck far away from the rest of the federation and had to improvise to get things done and also they had to break some rules which questioned their ethics and made them a lot more human than what we are used to seeing when watching Star Trek (most of the folks are a tad sterile and too perfect :P ) In a way it was like seeing the Africa of the universe, the unorganized part where no big alliances exist just the local species doing their thing, somewhere probably where we are at now :)
Daniel says on December 5, 2007
eweruthing is ok that you say,but can we make some presure for more epizodes
